


On a Scale of Zero to Six

by Chloe_Hallow_Eve



Series: Black Paladin Lance [19]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Black Paladin Lance (Voltron), Post-Season/Series 02 (Voltron), part of a series, past trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 10:05:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10965024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chloe_Hallow_Eve/pseuds/Chloe_Hallow_Eve
Summary: Lance goes to inform Lotor how his emotions have been effected by his time with Haggar.Alternatively titled: How Are You Feeling Today?Part of my Black Paladin Lance series.





	On a Scale of Zero to Six

Lance was out of the castle before it touched the ground. Lotor was waiting a few metres away, and when he saw Lance, he grinned wide and opened his arms. Lance raced right into them. Lotor stumbled a few steps, then caught himself, laughing. Lance pulled away, took his hands, and grinned up at him. 

 

Keith was out right after Lance, careful to keep his face neutral. He stood a few feet away from Lance and Lotor, watching them carefully. 

 

“It is good to see you again.” Lotor said, squeezing Lance’s hands. 

 

Lance squeezed back. “I'm glad I don't have to give you a formal greeting this time.”

 

Lotor chuckled. “Yes, that is quite the perk. Though, you still haven't told me the reason for your visit.”

 

“Can't I visit just to visit?”

 

Lotor perked a brow, eyes glancing over to the spot the rest of the team were descending from the castle before returning his gaze to Lance. Lance huffed. 

 

“Okay, yeah, there is a reason, but it's more personal than professional. More like a meeting as friends.”

 

Lotor hummed. “So it is important.”

 

“If you see my personal problems important, then yeah.” 

 

Lotor chuckled lightly, but his brows drew together. “Let’s head inside. You can tell me more once we’ve settled down.”

 

Lance nodded. Lotor greeted the rest of the team briefly before leading them all inside, seating them in his lounge and asking one of the servants to retrieve some drinks. As soon as everyone had their drinks, either in their hands or on the table, Lance told Lotor what he had said to his team a couple days ago. 

 

Once he was finished, Lotor leaned back, tapping his fingers on the arm rest. His face was pinched. “I am truly sorry, Lance. I never meant for any of that to happen.”

 

“I know.” Lance smiled, but it was strained. “There’s nothing we can do about it now, though.”

 

“The next time we see Haggar, I’m so punching her again.” Hunk declared, taking a small sip of his water. 

 

Lotor snorted in a very unregal-like manner. “I save a hit for me, if you will.” He paused. “So, if your emotions are all… less, what can’t you feel anymore?”

 

Lance frowned. “I’m… not sure. I think it’s just, emotions in the extreme. In general.”

 

“How would you rank those extremities on a scale of one to ten?”

 

“What?”

 

“If your regular emotions were represented with a scale of one to ten, where would the extremities be?”

 

Lance blinked, looking down for a moment. He hummed thoughtfully. “It depends on the emotion, but I’d say seven to ten.”

 

Lotor nodded slowly, his taps increasing in speed. “And do you ever have moments of numbness?”

 

Lance’s face spasmed through many emotions before settling on a frown. “...Yeah. Really, really rarely, but yeah.”

 

“So in other words, the scale of your emotions have moved from a one to ten, to a zero to six.” Lotor didn’t seem to like the point he was making, but he continued anyways. “Where was furious on your previous scale?”

 

“Seven.”

 

“That’s low.” Keith commented, arm pressed to Lance’s. “You sure have a short fuse.”

 

“Shush.” Lance batted at his face, causing Keith to snort. 

 

Lotor chuckled before continuing. “How about depression?”

 

“True depression? Probably nine.”

 

“Anxiety?”

 

“Eight.”

 

“Love?”

 

Lance’s face twisted oddly. He paused, sweeping his gaze across the room. “I think love has it’s own scale entirely. Like, starting at one is casual friendship love or love for stupid things. Three is love for your close friends. And then the scale splits in two at five for platonic love and romantic love. Like, I still love my family a whole bunch, and I’d say I still feel a ten on the platonic side for them, but I love my family a lot starting at seven. And I think I’d be in love with someone at eight.”

 

Shiro exhaled a breathy chuckle. “Well, at least one thing didn’t change.”

 

Lance smiled. “Yeah. If there’s anything my family taught me, it’s that love is more powerful than most forces.”

 

Pidge groaned. “That was somehow cheesily nice and stupidly unspecific.”

 

Lance sent them a grin and a thumbs up. Pidge stuck their tongue out. 

 

Lotor stopped tapping, clasping both of his hands in his lap. “How are you faring?”

 

Lance shrugged. “That’s kind of what’s difficult. I can’t really freak out anymore, or be furious, so I’m kind of… stuck. I know I should be feeling these things, but I’m not. It’s disorientating. Like, I should be furious, and depressed, and throwing fits and flailing around. But I can’t. Which is confusing.” Lance took a moment. “Though, it does make my flashbacks and nightmares a lot easier to deal with, so there’s that.”

 

“The small graces.” Lotor agreed. 

 

They all sat there for a moment, quiet, sipping their various beverages. Lance wrapped an arm around Keith’s shoulders, who leaned into the touch. Allura nudged Shiro and whispered something, to which the leader nodded to. Allura sat up fully, extending her height and royal presence, and cleared her throat. 

 

“Lotor, have you made any headway on finding Haggar?”

 

Lotor brightened, placing his drink back down and smiling. “Actually, yes! We’ve caught her trail and are following it to the best of our abilities. She seems to be jumping between uninhabitable planets. Her forces, while significantly smaller, are still quite large and hard to hide. It won’t be too long now before we are able to face her.”

 

Allura nodded. “My quintessence training is coming along, and I feel confident that I will be able to fight Haggar fairly. With the assistance of Slav’s creations, of course.”

 

“And we’ll be right behind you.” Shiro placed a hand on Allura’s wrist, smiling when she gave him a grateful look. 

 

“I know.” She smiled back. 

 

Lance glanced at Keith, who’s eyes met his. Keith mouthed ‘told you so’. Lance huffed, but felt a grin spread across his lips. 

 

The door opened, and a Galran soldier quickly rushed in, going to Lotor’s chair and kneeling. Lotor leaned over to hear the Galra’s whispers, face becoming pale and serious. He nodded, mumbled his thanks, and the soldier rushed back out. 

 

Lotor stood, brushing off his suit, and everyone else stood as well. “I’ve just been informed that we’ve found where Haggar is hiding.”

 

“That’s good, right?” Hunk shifted, eyes wide. “Why do you not look like it’s a good thing?”

 

Lotor sighed, taking a tablet off from the table next to him and bringing up a screen, enlarging it for everyone to see. On it depicted a planet, but it was blackened and dead. Pieces of it broke off and drifted away, others crumbled to ash. Lance felt his breath catch in his throat. 

 

“You are right, because she did this to the planet she’s hiding on.” Lotor turned the image, zooming in occasionally, trying to find something. “A few vargas ago, this planet was thriving. Now, there is no detectable life on it…” He zoomed in on a yellow speck, jaw tensing when the image came into focus. “...except for here.”

 

Haggar stood, next to a vat of yellow liquid, staring up at the sky. Her hood was off. Her gaze, which had been a few inches off, snapped forward. Lance felt as though she was staring directly at him. And from how some of the others shivered, they got the same feeling. 

 

She held up a hand, snapping, and she and the vat disappeared in the wind. Everyone stared at the blackened ground she had been standing on. Lotor shut the screen off. 

 

Lance felt his stomach coil. She was still powerful. Maybe more so than she had been, ever. 

 

“She wiped out the scouts I sent.” Lotor muttered bitterly. “We need to act fast.”

 

“That was obviously a ‘come and get me’ move. We can’t go to her on her invitation, it’s most likely a trap.” Keith pointed out. 

 

“We can’t just ignore what she’s doing.” Pidge ground out. “She might be provoking us, but the longer we wait, the more powerful she can get.”

 

Lance looked to Allura, whose face was pinched. “How about it, princess? Should we follow the red herring?”

 

Allura frowned at him, but ignored the terminology she didn’t understand. “Not yet. We’ll regroup with Kolivan and Slav. Lotor, you should come as well. We need to rally our forces before we make a move.”

 

The team nodded. It was obvious from Pidge and Hunk’s faces that they didn’t agree with it, but they couldn’t look past the logic. Lance looked to where the screen had been, lips pursing. 

  
They needed to act fast, and soon. More planets with uncountable lives could be lost if they didn’t. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello wonderful readers! I'd like to make a small announcement. I'm not going to update anything more until June 4th, to give myself a small break from pumping these out. I want to take this chance to think of the direction I want this series to go after this, and how I'll wrap it all up. 
> 
> Thank you all for your amazing support! I am amazed by all the kudos, comments, and bookmarks. I appreciate every one of you, and thank you again for supporting me while I write this series! I'm having a lot of fun~!
> 
> Stay awesome, and I will see you June 4th! 'Til next time~!!!


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